Them
by surrendersomething
Summary: (GSR) Sara and Grissom's relationship through the eyes of someone else.


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Them

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Author: Sarah (surrendersomething)

E-mail: surrender_something@hotmail.com

Summary: GSR. Sara and Grissom's relationship through the eyes of someone else. 

Spoilers: A vague understanding should suffice, nothing mentioned in detail. 

Disclaimer: I don't own it, I was just borrowing, honest. 

Author's Notes: I wrote this with Greg in mind as the "someone else" but in theory you could apply it to anyone, apart from the other three criminalists. Big thankyou's to Charli for beta reading this!

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Them

They arrived at Catherine's together. Not that it was conclusive evidence, because he and Nick had arrived at the same time and that certainly didn't mean they were having a relationship. It was more something about their general manner of late – neither of them was particularly sociable, that was a fact the whole lab had accepted. Christmas parties had never been their scene.

It was unsettling, the change in them.

They were standing with the other night shift criminalists, and there was nothing unusual about that. It was more the inclination of her head towards him, even when someone else was talking. The way she laughed at his jokes, and his hand rested lightly on her back throughout the entire conversation. 

There had been rumours going round the labs for weeks, months even. Once the rumours about Warrick and Catherine became yesterday's news, it was _the_ thing to be heard discussing. The rest of the night shift was predictably evasive on the subject, leading everyone to conclude that if there _was_ something going on, it was on a need to know basis.

There were rules to be adhered to, after all. 

He'd listened to countless debates on the subject. Never participated, merely eavesdropped. Were they together, or weren't they? There were two very clear sides to the argument, and a very clear split between his colleagues. Some thought they'd finally wised up to their feelings, and believed that their shared cases, light banter and lengthy conversations were all signals that not only were they back to being friends, but that there was something more. 

That no one could be that relaxed around someone unless there _were_ more intimate circumstances. 

But then there were the pessimists, who said they were too involved in their work, wouldn't risk their careers and reputations for something that would probably never work out due to their lack of communication skills. 

He wished he could believe the latter.

He found them later that night, as he stepped out into the backyard in search of someone new to talk to. They were partially concealed by the shadows, away from the group of people congregated by the house. His arms formed a loop around her waist, and she seemed perfectly happy to be trapped in that position. He said something and she laughed, leaning up to press her lips to his momentarily, before returning to her original position, shaking her hair back from where it had fallen across her face. 

He knew for sure then – _that_ was conclusive evidence. 

Had it been any other rumour, any other couple, he'd have been plotting how best to revel in the knowledge, how to gloat that _he_ was the first to confirm it. But this was different. He couldn't bring himself to participate in gossip about her…with him. At that point Warrick appeared behind him, and upon noticing where his eyes were trained, made a comment about how natural they looked together. 

And much as it pained him, he had to agree. 

Sara looked happy, which had been a rarity up until recently. She got truly excited about cases again, yet the amount of overtime she worked had decreased drastically. _Everyone_ had commented on that. She was leaving the lab at normal times, staying perhaps an hour or two during particularly tough cases. Their leaving times, though never the same, were also generally within an hour of one another. 

It was no wonder there were rumours.

He eavesdropped (accidentally, but it was eavesdropping nonetheless) on a conversation between "those who knew" a little later that evening. Warrick recounted to Catherine and Nick what he'd seen outside, Catherine described a moment she'd interrupted a few days ago, when they'd been very close to doing something wholly inappropriate. Nick remembered a comment Sara had made in passing about his bugs freaking her out so much that he'd moved them so she didn't have to look at them every day. 

Although it didn't break his heart, it did make him wonder what it would be like to be that close to her. 

He couldn't remember exactly who started the dancing, but he had a feeling it was due to the plotting of a certain group of nightshift criminalists. Sara had been surprisingly open to the suggestion, and all too happy to drag Grissom out onto the makeshift dance floor once a few other people had followed Catherine and Warrick's lead. He supposed he couldn't blame her for wanting to take the obvious chance to be close to him – the slow tempo and gently swung blues rhythm of the song playing provided her with the perfect opportunity. Her arms rested around his neck, her cheek against his shoulder. His fingers traced gentle patterns on her back as they held a quiet conversation, punctuated by the occasional smile. 

It was then that he realised how close they were. 

The party dispersed soon after, and as he sat in his car he deduced that the only ones left in the house were the five criminalists. After a period of time he couldn't define, they appeared at the door. Catherine and Warrick waved as the other three made their way towards their respective cars. Sara and Nick were laughing at something as they reached the cars, and she smacked him lightly in mock annoyance, before finding her way towards Grissom as he opened the car door for her. She grinned, impulsively leaning forward to kiss him before settling herself in the passenger seat, waving at Nick as he drove off. 

The smile on Grissom's face as he walked around the car was enough to convince him that any feelings on Sara's part were definitely reciprocated.

And in a funny way he was happy for them. 

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End file.
